Joe Biden is set to sign an executive order Wednesday, two years after the killing of George Floyd, further regulating federal law enforcement but not going as far as the major police reform he promised during his campaign.
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In particular, the text provides for the establishment of a national register to list all reports, disciplinary proceedings and complaints against members of the federal police, according to a press release from the White House, which is described as “historic”.
US states and local governments, which are vested with very broad policing and judicial powers, are also “encouraged” to complete and consult this register.
The order also prohibits, still at the federal level, the use of carotid strangulation or compression techniques except in exceptional circumstances. It also limits the ability to enter a place without warning.
The Biden administration will also ask federal law enforcement agencies to generalize the use of body cameras during arrests or searches and to quickly release the images in the event of a fatal accident.
The decree also mandates the use of deadly force only when “necessary” and restricts the use of military equipment in police operations.
The date this executive order was signed is symbolic, two years after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked huge anti-racism demonstrations.
Joe Biden will sign the executive order along with his family members, as well as families of other victims of police brutality, a senior White House official said in a press interview. He said law enforcement officials would also attend the ceremony.
George Floyd, an African American, had suffocated after a police officer pressed his knee on his neck for a long time.
“If the nation is to heal, we must recognize that fatal interactions with law enforcement disproportionately affect black or dark-skinned people,” the White House commented.
Joe Biden, in his campaign for the presidency, had promised deep policing reform that would comply with the law and not the more limited instrument of decree, which is only material at the federal administrative level.
But the democratic president, whose party does not have a sufficient parliamentary majority, did not succeed, to the great disappointment of associations fighting against racism and police violence.